


that time the birds of prey beat evermoist

by KeepCalmandGay



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Punk, Break Up and Make Up, F/F, Punk Band AU sorta, Social Media, a lot of indulgent references, kinda relationship heavy, literally 2 mentions of a man, oh yeah gideon makes an appearance, she's def the friend that houses everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 04:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17114765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeepCalmandGay/pseuds/KeepCalmandGay
Summary: In which there is a band and naturally a lot of relationships and lesbiansWritten for a secret santa for lady-adventuress on tumblr <3





	that time the birds of prey beat evermoist

**Author's Note:**

> I owe my entire life to my best friend and beta who saved my ass with this fic and made it 20x better

Sara settled herself cross-legged on the coffee table with her cup of tea in hand as Nyssa perched worriedly on the couch in front of her. She reached out and poked her girlfriend with her toe.

“Nys, babe, it’ll be alright. The band’s gonna be pissed for a bit, we’ll find a new member, and then we’ll go on to kick ass at the competition. Now relax.”

Nyssa only looked up and glared at Sara. She opened her mouth to snap at the blonde, but her remark was drowned out by the sound of Laurel and Helena entering, helmets in each of their hands.

“I swear to god, Helena, if you tell me one more time that Tommy is a useless billionaire, I will make you pay for coffee for a month.”

“Fine, but I have seen plenty of useless billionaires in my day and I’m pretty sure buying you a stuffed bunny  _ three times your size _ simply because you had a pregnancy scare is the definition of useless billionaire.”

Sara’s head popped up at this and she nearly fell off the coffee table in her haste to turn around.

“You’re pregnant??”

Laurel turned to glare at Helena before responding to her sister.

“No, my period was like 3 days late and Tommy freaked out. That does not mean he’s a useless billionaire,” she looks pointedly at Helena, “it simply means he’s a useless husband who tries his best but fails. Miserably. A lot. Why am I with him again?”

“Because he’s hopelessly in love with you and wore you down after hiring a coffee cart to follow you around throughout finals,” Sara points out. Laurel shot a glare at Sara, but the final member of their band rushed in, preventing the inevitable bickering.

“Sorry I’m late, guys,” Alex said, dropping her helmet with everyone else’s and peeling off her leather jacket before collapsing on the couch with Nyssa. “I needed to talk Kara  _ out _ of going out with Mike again and  _ into  _ punching him in the mouth. I accomplished one of those two things, but I’ve still got time. God knows he’ll try again next week.”

“OK, we’re ready to start,” Nyssa began as she pulled Sara onto the couch and the other two sat down.

“Hold up, where’s Kate?” Helena interrupted, though she regretted that move when a murderous look crossed Nyssa’s face. Nyssa waved Sara forward, letting her girlfriend take the lead.

“Yeah, so Kate decided that she wanted more glory than she could get as the bassist of, and I quote, ‘a second-rate band’, so she left and decided to create her own band with some friends from her work. Now,  _ obviously _ ,” Sara continued over the rest of the band as they reacted loudly to the news, “this leaves us in a tight spot.”

“We have got three options available to us,” Nyssa continued, taking the lead once more. “We could-”

“Hold up, so Kate just  _ left  _ us?” Alex exploded. “She can’t do that, we have like 2 months until the competition begins.”

“Precisely, so we have three options,” Nyssa repeated cooly, . “One, we could one, drop out of the competition. This is not my preferred course of action, naturally, and I’m sure you all agree with me.” She glanced  around at everyone’s nods.

“We all have things to prove with this competition. I don’t think any of us want to do that,” Laurel agreed easily.

“Second, we could try and adapt our songs to be played  _ without  _ a bass, but frankly, considering our set, that would be worse than dropping out.” Once again, the band nodded “So, that leaves us with-”

“We have to get a new member,” interrupted Helena.

“Yes,” Nyssa scowled at the other brunette. “We need to find a new member- someone able to both fit in with our group  _ and  _ learn our songs before the competition.” 

Looking around the room, Sara observed the worried but determined looks on everyone’s faces. They would have to move quickly in order to be prepared in time, but she was confident in the abilities of her bandmates.

“We should probably put a notice out now and have auditions, what, next Friday?” Alex spoke up, thinking of all that they had to do in the time they had.

“Can’t, date night,” both Lance sisters spoke up. Sara quickly clarified, “Not a double date, just so happens it’s easiest to schedule date nights on the same night?”

Alex sighed, rolling her eyes before conceding and realizing she should set up a date night with her wife. “Fine, how about Saturday after lunch? We need to get going on this.”

Nyssa nodded in agreement, reaching over and grabbing her laptop. “Saturday sounds perfect, that gives us nearly a full week. We can put a notice out online, and then if everyone will reach out to anyone who could fit the bill?”

The band all reached for their phones to get started. They had a long couple of weeks ahead. 

//

**Nyssa Ghost Writes My Thoughts** @sarasangels

did anyone see saras new hair? pink is def her color 😍😍😍 #hairdye #imsogayforthisgirl #pleasemarryme #bop #saralance

//

The following Saturday saw the band gathered once more, this time in Alex’s garage with Sam and Ruby joining them to provide input for the auditions. The two of them, alongside Laurel, were sat on the couch just off the practice area, the teenager munching on apple slices with peanut butter. It had been a busy and stressful week for the band, sending out and responding to inquiries about the opening, preparing for the auditions,and tending to their usual responsibilities. They had just gotten back from lunch together and were setting up their instruments when a tall blonde arrived.

“Hey, I’m here for the Birds of Prey audition?”

Everyone looked up, and Laurel stepped forward with a welcoming smile on her face.

“Welcome, I’m Laurel, the band’s manager. Here we’ve got Nyssa, our lead singer, her girlfriend Sara’s on guitar, Alex is on drums, and Helena’s on keyboard. And over there are Sam and Ruby, Alex’s wife and stepdaughter.” Everyone waved with varying degrees of excitement as they were introduced. “Sam and Ruby will be watching and providing a bit of an audience today.”

The blonde nodded, looking around and getting her bearings. Laurel, having finished her piece, sat down with the girl’s paperwork, letting Alex take over.

“So, as Laurel mentioned, you’ll be playing a 30-sec bit so we can get a feel for your style, then we’ll play the song we sent you when you applied together as a band, and then we’ll do a short jam. Agreed?” She nodded resolutely, then moved to get her bass set up. “Ok, let’s get started, and don’t worry, we don’t bite too hard.”

//

The next few hours passed fairly quickly, with a few short breaks for water and writing notes on each of the 7 auditions.

Once the final auditionee left and the group packed away their gear in the garage, they all went inside to grab snacks and to talk. Once everyone was settled, food and notes in hand, Nyssa called the meeting to order.

“Let’s get this over with. What did everyone think of the first girl, Jackie?”

Everyone made a face.

“I’m not sure,” Alex said slowly.

Helena huffed, with a lot less tact, “Her playing was weak. She would work if necessary, but I’m not a fan.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, and besides, she wasn’t very-” she paused and turned to her mom. “Can I swear?”

Everyone tried to not laugh as Sam answered, “Yes, but  _ only _ for the meeting.”

“Sweet! But she wasn’t very badass. Didn’t quite fit your guys’ cool image,” she continued, gesturing at everyone. Sara and Helena nodded in agreement with the 13 year-old.

“Okay, so most likely not,” Nyssa noted, jotting some things down on her note sheet. “And what about Laura?”

“Oh hell no,” Sam interjected. “Her playing sucked. Her’s and Gabby’s.”

Laurel nodded emphatically. “They both made me want to cut off my ears. Can we say no for both?”

The rest of the band agreed and Nyssa marked her sheet accordingly.

“Okay, so next is Sarah.”

“She was good,” Alex remarked. “Nothing crazy special, but she would work. Better than the other three, at least.”

“No,” Sara declared. Alex looked over, eyebrows raised. “We can’t have another Sara, especially one that spells her name with an  _ h _ . I say no.”

Everyone rolled their eyes at their dramatic guitarist and Laurel just sighed as if she had to deal with this too often. “Sara, we can’t say no to someone just because they have the same name as you.”

Nyssa reached out to placate her girlfriend. “We aren’t saying yes yet, but they have a point, we can’t say no just because of her name. Okay?” Sara pouted but sat back in her seat. “Continuing on- Martha?”

“Better than Jackie, not as good as Sarah,” Helena remarked.

“Yeah, but she was really pretty,” Ruby piped up.

Alex laughed, “I don’t disagree.” Sam mock-glared at her as she continued, “But unfortunately, we can’t let people in the band based solely on their attractiveness.” Ruby pouted, knowing that Martha wouldn’t make it in.

“And Lena? Personally, I really liked her. She played really well and she seemed to fit in with the band,” Nyssa added her two cents. Everyone nodded in complete agreement.

Sara spoke up, “Didn’t she also mention that she played violin? That would be pretty cool.”

“And she’s super pretty! Prettier than Martha,” Ruby sighed in happiness and collapsed back against the couch. Sam reached over tickled her daughter.

“Rubes, your gay is showing.”

“I don’t care. She’s pretty and I’m a teenager. It’s acceptable.”

“I think Lena was the best that auditioned,” Helena spoke up. Sara frowned at her.

“What about Andi? She was pretty good. Fairly comparable to Lena.”

Helena and Laurel shared a look before Laurel spoke up. “She was a plant for Kate. I saw them together at Jitters the other day. They looked  _ way  _ too friendly for it to be coincidence.”

“ _ Bitch _ ,” Sara spat out as her girlfriend adopted a murderous look. “I’m gonna kill her.” She started to stand but was promptly pulled back down by Nyssa.

“Let’s just win this competition and rub our victory in her face instead, alright? Now, are we in agreement about Lena?” Everyone nodded, looking even more determined to win. “Okay, Laurel, why don’t you call her.”

As she stood up to do so, Ruby spoke up from where she had gotten comfortable between her two moms, “Movie night? I’ve been wanting to watch Guardians of the Galaxy but I’m not allowed to watch Marvel movies without you guys.”

All the adults turned to glare at Sara who raised her hands defensively.

“What? It wasn’t me.”

Helena cackled, “Yeah, no, that was me. I’m down for movie night. Afternoon. Whatever time it is now.”

Sam and Alex looked at each other and shrugged, before snagging the remote to find the movie. Everyone curled up with each other, getting comfy before settling in for a mini marathon.

//

|  **b-rdsofprey** : Did anyone get confirmation that kate’s leaving BoP? 

|  |  **pugsandthoughts:** shes a bitch im glad shes gone

|  | | **kane-sexual** : fuck you, kates the best player that pos bands ever had

|  | |  | **pugsandthoughts:** i dont even have a response for the amount of wrong in that sentence

//

They had band practice a couple times  a week with Lena, running through all their music and getting her up familiar with it. After their first practice together, they decided to have game night in order to get to know each other better. Once they had all trooped into Sam and  Alex’s living room, the members of the band and Ruby all sprawled out around the coffee table while Sam ordered Chinese takeout. Lena looked around before speaking up

“Where’s Laurel? Does she normally join these sort of things?”

Sara dismissively waved a hand as she answered. “Pretty sure she had something to do with her husband Tommy,” she clarified. “He and his friend Oliver own a club and needed a lawyer to review something for them. Coincidentally, Oliver is a part of Team Arrow, another band we’ll be competing against.”

Lena nodded, processing this information. “Right, and you and her are…”

“Sisters. Laurel’s older by 2 years. Married Tommy, went to law school, absolutely perfect in everyway, according to my parents.”

“Cheers to that,” Alex raises her glass while Lena scoffs in agreement.

“I think it’s fair to say that everyone here doesn’t measure up perfectly for our parents,” Helena adds bitterly, “except for the lovely Ruby here.” Said girl grins proudly before snuggling into Alex’s side.

“Yeah, okay, confession? I’m a little confused on… everyone.” Lena looked around, gesturing at the group gathered.

Ruby sat up, taking it upon herself to explain the groups relationships. “Right, so Nyssa al-Ghul. All around badass-” Ruby paused, noticing the warning looks from her moms on her swearing. “Only with the band, okay? -But her family is sort of crappy. She’s dating Sara Lance. They’re ridiculously cute together, but don’t comment on it because you will get a lamp thrown at your head.”

“That was one time,” Nyssa clarified. “And it was more the timing than the comment which caused it.”

“Sure. Now, as mentioned, Sara is Laurel’s little sister. Due to a fairly unhealthy amount of sibling rivalry and some stupid mistakes involving a certain boy, Sara has issues involving her family, though they are getting better. Laurel and Helena are close friends. Helena’s family is the Italian mob, but they don’t really talk anymore. Both Laurel and Helena are straight, the only ones involved with the band. This is my mom,” Ruby gestured towards Sam, “She had me when she was 16. She and mama-” here she gestured towards Alex, “-have been married for just about 2 years now, and mom is pregnant again! Is that all?”

Alex and Sam exchanged a look over their daughter’s head as she thought carefully to make sure she missed nothing important.

“Rubes,” Sam spoke up slowly, “you need to go to bed on time more often. And stop reading all my psychology books. And not eavesdrop?” Everyone burst out laughing, having recovered from the momentary shock of having the 13 year old know so much about all of them.

“Besides, you forgot Kara,” Alex added, nudging Ruby.

“Right!” she exclaimed, brightening up. “Kara is Alex’s younger sister. She’s a reporter and she’s normally here at these game nights, but not tonight.”

Lena nodded, a little overwhelmed by all the information. “Right, and everyone, with the exception of Laurel and Helena, is queer?”

Everyone laughed as Helena muttered, “Of course,  _ that’s _ what she cares about. The band’s queerness.”

//

_ Music - Yesterday _

Panic! At The Disco Releases A Hot New Single!!

_ Music - Earlier Today _

Team Arrow Reveals Their Newest Hit to be Played in the Star City Music Competition!

_ Celebrity - 1 hour ago _

Kate Kane Denies Comments on Her Departure from the Hit Punk Band, Birds of Prey.

//

The weekend of Lena’s first concert was upon the band and Lena was starting to get nervous. She knew the band had already welcomed her and wasn’t going to kick her out at this point, but that knowledge did nothing to combat the worry churning in her gut. She tried to beat down her anxiety as she finished up her hair and looked over at the rest of the band- all of whom looked a lot calmer than she felt. Well, all except for Sara, who was currently pacing as Nyssa tried to get her to sit down and finish her make-up.

“Guys! One of the judges for the competition is here tonight. Apparently she wanted to come and see what the competition will look like, talent-wise. Why is that necessary?”

“Sara, sit down and let Nyssa do your make-up,” Alex admonished softly. “The representative is a, not a judge, and b, not going to have any effect on anything. Ignore her. She has no control over anything until the final round. We’ll be fine.”

“OK, fine, we’ll be okay about him,” Sara continued frantically, still pacing. “But what about Kate? The whole fucking band of losers is here. And did you hear? They’re going by the stupidest names ever! Calamity, Charity, Veracity, and Serenity. Like what the hell  _ are _ those names?”

Nyssa finally got a hand on Sara’s wrist and tugged her down into a chair. “Sara, darling, relax. Now sit still as I do your makeup.”

“But Kate!” Nyssa grabbed her chin and held it still as she applied the eyeliner.

“ _ Sara _ ,” Helena snapped. “Yeah, they’re assholes. But freaking out is not helping us any, and it’s definitely not helping Lena with her pre-first-show nerves. So shut up for once.”

Lena froze as Helena called her out, though was quickly relieved when the agitated guitarist relaxed and the rest of the band followed suit. Laurel sidled up next to Lena before speaking.

“Don’t worry, Sara’s like this before every show. It may be worse tonight, but that has everything to do with Kate and nothing to do with you.”

Lena looked over skeptically before nodding and taking a deep breath. “OK, I think I’ve got this.”

“Good,” Nyssa spoke up. “Cause we’re on. Let’s go.”

They all trooped onto the stage and gave Lena encouraging grins before they broke out into one of their more popular songs to the background of cheers from their audience. Everyone started to sing along and Lena quickly fell into the music, nerves fading away as her muscle memory took over. Partway through the second song, she started looking through the audience, amazed at all the fans rocking out to their music.

Her eye was quickly caught by a blonde close to the stage. She seemed almost at peace compared to the jumping fans surrounding her and she had the biggest smile as she watched the band play. Lena kept one eye on her throughout the rest of the set and managed to catch her eye as they left the stage. Butterflies erupted in her stomach as she met the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

She kept smiling to herself as the band gathered backstage, reviewing the short list for the encore but was caught thinking about the blonde by the others in the band.

“Lena, are you okay? I know it’s your first performance, but you seem a little distracted,” Alex worried, reaching out for the bassist.

“Oh no, I’m fine, I just-” she cut herself off and looked off towards where the audience waited beyond the stage. Sara caught wind of Lena’s thought process and sauntered over.

“You just what?” she prompted, smirking.

Lena looked down, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. She took a breath and looked up.

“I just saw someone really pretty, okay?” The band laughed and looked at Lena expectantly for more information. “She’s blonde and has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. She’s near the front in a checkered button-up.”

Alex choked on the water she was drinking while the rest of the band shared a look. Lena was instantly wary and looked suspiciously at her new friends. Sara composed herself and winked at Lena.

“I know who you’re talking about. I’ve seen her before. She shows up to a bunch of our shows. And I do have to agree, she is pretty hot.” Alex glared at Sara, but before Lena could ask what was up, Nyssa spoke up.

“It’s time to go back on stage for the encore. Save the gossiping for afterwards. And stop flirting, Sara, I swear to god.”

Sara just winked before sauntering back on stage with the of rest the band following. Coming back to loud cheers for the audience, the Birds of Prey rocked for 2 more songs before taking their final leave of the stage and packing up their equipment. Everyone’s spirits were high, a mix of post-show adrenaline (which led to a lot of making out between Sara and Nyssa) and relief that Lena fit in well with the band. 

Once they finished cleaning up with the help of Laurel directing them, everyone trooped out to the bar to grabs drinks, Sam meeting them.

“Tonight proved that Lena Luthor fits in with our band better than  _ that bitch _ ever did, who can honestly go fuck herself because this band truly does not need her!” Helena announced loudly. She was met with loud cheers before raising her glass up in the air. “To Luthor and our success as a band!”

“Here, here,” everyone chorused, clinking their glasses together and laughing as they drank. 

Lena was in the middle of swallowing her sip when the blonde from the audience joined the group with a drink in hand. She inhaled sharply in surprise and promptly started choking.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” The blonde asked, too sincerely had it been anyone else. 

Lena waved away her concern as she managed to start breathing normally again.  _ Holy shit, how is she pure sunshine? _ The newcomer started talking again and Lena almost lost the ability to breathe once more.

“You must be the new member. I’m Kara.” She smiled and held out a hand for Lena to shake.

“I’m Lena. Sara mentioned you come to a lot of our shows?” Lena replied, trying to gather her composure and figure out how to actually flirt with pretty girls again. Kara laughed before replying.

“Yeah, I’m Alex’s sister, so I try to come as often as I can.” Lena turned and raised her eyebrow at Alex, who rapidly grabbed Sam’s hand and wisely retreated. “Besides, I’m also a reporter for CatCo and they tend to use me as a fill-in for the music column as I come to a lot of these live shows. But you did amazing up there- better than Kate, in my opinion. You like it?”

Lena nodded, flushing at the casual compliment. “Yeah, it’s felt really easy to fit in with the band. And the music is great, which makes it easier to learn and play.”

“That’s very true. The Birds of Prey is probably one of the best punk bands out there right now, not that I’m biased or anything,” Kara laughed, adjusting her glasses. “When did you learn to play?”

“I managed to convince my mom to let me start the bass when I was 12. I had to master the piano and the violin first, though. And French and Mandarin Chinese.”

“All that?!”

“Yeah, she wasn’t too keen on letting me learn the bass, but I was very set on it.”

“How does she feel now that you’re playing as part of a band?”

Lena scoffed, taking a sip of her beer. “She disowned me when I came out when I turned 15, so I doubt she cares at all that I’m in a band, unless I somehow manage to “sully the Luthor name” further by doing something truly horrible.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, reaching out to comfort Lena.

“It was for the better, honestly. Don’t worry about it.” Kara still looked doubtful, so Lena continued, “I promise, my life is better now that they’re out of it. What about you? Any special talents?”

“Ehh not really. I really love the stars, though, and know more about them than the average human should.” Lena raised an eyebrow in interest, silently asking Kara to continue. “It’s just that my father was an astrophysicist and my mom liked them as a hobby, and then my foster dad- the Danvers- was an astrophysicist, too.”

“Can I ask-” Lena asked hesitantly, getting the sense that this topic was difficult for Kara.

“My parents died in a fire when I was 13. My dad and Jeremiah were close because of work, and the Danvers took me in.” Kara looked up and met Lena’s eyes. “Don’t apologize, I’m fine, I swear. The Danvers are amazing, and I’m really glad to have Alex as a sister.”

“Ok, ok,” Lena raised her hands in surrender. “Change of subject-”

“Kara!” Lena sighed as she was interrupted by Alex calling them. “Kara! We’re going home, let’s go. You promised you would take care of Ruby tomorrow.” Kara sighed, waving her sister off. She turned to Lena, already regretting that she had to leave.

"Give me your number?” Lena asked, soaking up every last drop of Kara she could. “I want to take you out on a date, and maybe find out more about you that isn’t incredibly depressing?”

Kara laughed and nodded. She took the offered phone and put her number into it, before handing it back. “It was great meeting you, Lena,” she told her, leaning in to leave a kiss on her cheek as she headed out.

Lena just leaned against the bar, watching the blonde weave through the crowd after her sister. She could tell after that short conversation that the woman was a literal ball of sunshine. Her peace was quickly interrupted by a ball of pink hair crashing into her and smirking at her until Lena pushed her away.

“Shut up, Sara. She’s cute.”

“Yes she is, Luthor, yes she is.”

//

**sara lance is a queen 👑** @cururosity

Laurel’s last insta story has that hot brunette in the back, i hope shes kates replacement because ho boy she could step on me asdfkj 😍💦 #bop #kanecansuckit

//

**legend-wait for it-dary** @katgrant

_ Replying to _ @cururosity is it just me or is she making eyes at the blonde in the back?

//

The Birds of Prey was due on stage for the first round of competition in half an hour and the girls were rushing around trying to get ready. Well, Sara was rushing around, the others were calmly but nervously finishing their makeup and hair.

"GUYS I can’t find my hair tie! I know I had a good one. I just had it yesterday!" Sara yells, digging around her duffel looking for the elusive hair tie. Alex simply tosses over the pack, ignoring Sara’s panic with practiced nonchalance. 

"Just take a new one. We have plenty." 

"But I KNOW I had one. This is why we go through hair ties so quickly!" She continued to dig hurriedly through her bag but was interrupted by Nyssa reaching over and tugging her into a soft kiss.

“Don’t worry, beloved. We are going to kick ass out there. The audience will love us, and Lena is far better a bassist than Kate ever was. There’s no reason to panic.” She smoothed down her girlfriend’s hair and wiped away a smudge of eyeshadow on her cheek. Sara took a deep breath and relaxed into the other woman.

“OK, I got this. I think. I still need to put my hair up. My makeup’s fine?”

Nyssa smiled, pecking her on the lips. “Perfect. Let me do your hair. The usual?”

Sara nodded, “Yes, please.” Nyssa sat her down on a chair and moved behind her. Quickly twisting some hair into small braids, she gathered the hair up into a ponytail. 

//

**Nyssa Ghost Writes My Thoughts** @sarasangels

guess whos gonna die tonight!!!!!!@!!!!! #bop #live #asininperson #cawcawmotherfuckers #livingtheLIFE

//

After their performance, the band gathered in an open spot on the field, wordlessly agreeing to wait together for the results. Kara joined them shortly after, and she, Alex, Sara, and Helena started a very intense game of egyptian ratscrew, Lena curled up to Kara’s back, watching the game unfold.

A couple hours later, the microphone on stage screeched as it was announced that the results would be coming in five minutes. Helena poked Laurel awake from where she was using her lap as a pillow. The band made it toward the wings where all the bands were waiting, excitement rising in all of them. 

The tension was palpable throughout the wings and audience as the top 16 bands were announced. A groan rose from the Birds of Prey as Evermoist was included in the list of people going forward, but was quickly replaced with cheers as their name was the final one on the list. Alex mentally reviewed the list of contestants and broke out in a wide grin.

“Guys, Arrow didn’t make it.”

“HALLELUJAH,” shouted Helena, voicing everyone’s thoughts. Nyssa and Sara hugged tightly, relieved beyond measure, and Lena kissed Kara, pouring her joy into the kiss.

“Let’s go back to my place, guys,” Laurel said. “I think Tommy bought half a bar for us.”

//   
**Birds of Prey** @birdsofprey_official ☑️

COME SEE US IN THE FINAL ROUND OF STAR CITY MUSIC COMPETITION!!

//

**pugsandthoughts:** who names their fucking band  _ evermoist _ ????? what fuckin backwards ass world is this thta they beat TEAM MOTHERFUKING ARROW???! 

#AKJSDLKJDH  _ #who did they bribe #i want to know #i will go to their house with a baseball bat #becuase this INJUSTIEC WILL NOT STAND _

//

**HYPE TRAIN FOR BOP** @falling-for-you

new girl and alex’s sister are def a thing #confirmed #isawlenakissingsantaclaus #exceptsantawasahotblondechick

//

The band gathered at Laurel’s house, the thrill of having won still running through their veins. Alcohol was set out and music turned up as everyone celebrated. It wasn’t quite midnight and the women were all sitting around, chatting about anything while it was quickly becoming apparent that Helena was by far the drunkest of them all and Nyssa the least, having drank soda the entire night.

“You know, I want to say that I’m surprised, but it’s kinda fits that Sara has slept with more band members than anyone else here,” she slurred. Nyssa’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Alex and Sara froze at the comment.

“What are you talking about?” Lena spoke up from in her spot cuddled between Kara’s legs.

“Nope,” she continued loudly, ignoring the harsh looks she was receiving. “She and Alex slept together. and he’s not in the band, but she also slept with Oliver. And some dude name Constantine or something. I think there was some others. I’m not sure, it was before the band.”

The band sat in silence, unsure of what to do with that information. Nyssa slowly stood up, clearly pissed off. She grabbed her jacket and helmet and left, Sara quickly scrambling after her.

“Nyssa, wait!” Sara managed to catch up to the angry woman on the porch. The black-haired woman stopped with her back to her girlfriend, waiting. “We were broken up. In that stupid fight we had. I was drunk, and it meant nothing, I swear to god, Nyssa.”

“Don’t bother, Sara,” Nyssa said coldly, before getting on the motorcycle. Sara watched helplessly as Nyssa drove away on their motorcycle, tears streaming down Sara’s face. She was too drunk to figure out what just happened- _ did they just break up? _ \- and stumbled inside to her sister. Laurel looked up the moment she came inside and jumped up, wrapping her in a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Sara. You two can work this out I promise,” she murmured in her sister’s ear, holding her tightly. The rest of the band watched, somber, Helena feeling a heavy sense of guilt begin to settle in her gut.

//

**E! News** @enews

Trouble in Paradise - A Fight in Amongst the Birds of Prey?  _ eonli.ne/2EcHb0Vr _

**someone turn off the sun plz** @420hopes

    I refuse to believe this. Nope. Denial is a river in Egypt.

**Nyssa Ghost Writes My Thoughts** @sarasangels

         nooooooo! say it aint so!!! #bop #pleasebefake #nooo #nyssaraforever

**//**

It was two weeks and two rounds of competition after Helena had slipped up when Sara finally went to Laurel for a Sister Night. Despite knowing that she needed someone to confide in and get advice from, she stood outside on Laurel’s porch for a solid fifteen minutes before the door swung open to reveal an impatient Laurel.

“I’ve been watching you worry out here for over ten minutes. Get in here.” She tugged her sister inside, Sara following silently. “OK, tell me what happened,” Laurel prompted once they were sat down on the couch.

The younger sister worried at her lip for a few minutes, trying to get her thoughts together. After a few minutes of silence, Laurel decided to give her a bit of a break and try changing the subject.

“How’s staying with Gideon? Her bed as comfy as ever?” Sara flopped back into the couch and groaned loudly, before speaking up.

“Before the fallout with the al-Ghuls, Nyssa and I had a huge fight, I don’t even remember what it was about, but it was bad. We both agreed to take a break to let things cool and to figure out our brains. I was upset, you know? So I might have fallen back into my old ways and got way too drunk. Which led to me sleeping with Alex. And Oliver. And some other random people I found at a bar. Like Constantine. And a girl named Carly. And Gwen. There were a few.”

“Fucking hell, Sara,” Laurel muttered. Sara just held up a finger, asking her sister to let her finish. She nodded, gesturing for Sara to finish.

“But, one morning, I woke up in an alley, where I had passed out the night before. I realized I had fucked up, so I took a day or two to clean up and actually get my head on straight again.”

“Wait, is this when you crashed here for a couple days and wouldn’t talk to anyone?” Laurel remembered how despondent her sister had been. That combined with the lack of the gay joke made her realize how upset Sara was about this.

“Yeah, I was trying to figure out how to proceed from, you know, cheating on my girlfriend? I eventually decided not to tell her, but to just make it up to her in every way possible.” Laurel raised her eyebrow at Sara, as if asking how well that decision turned out for her. “I don’t know, I guess I justified it by saying we were on a break.” She shrugged, knowing her reasoning didn’t exactly hold up.

Laurel snorted, calling her sister out on her bullshit. “Really? You’re going to be Ross Geller here?”

“It was stupid, I know. But now Nyssa knows and is upset, and I don’t really know where to go from here.”

Laurel takes a deep breath. “OK, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take a breather, I’m going to make tea for us, and then we’re going to come up with a way to fix this. Alright?”

Sara nodded, turning out to flop face-down into the couch while Laurel got up to put the kettle on. All too soon for Sara’s liking, she heard the kettle whistle and her sister coming back. She sat up, ready to continue the conversation.

“Laurel, I just don’t know how to apologize,” Sara admitted quietly, hugging a pillow to her chest.

“Have you actually tried apologizing?” Laurel asked, handing the mug of tea to her sister and sitting down next to her.

“What?”

“You have a tendency to say why she shouldn’t be mad at you, but you never actually apologize for what you did.” Sara opened her mouth to argue but Laurel kept going. “It’s true, and you know it. You just have to admit you were in the wrong.”

“I know that. I fucked up,” Sara admitted, her voice sounding small.

“So tell her that. And apologize.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Honestly? Probably not. But it’s a start. It will get her to listen to you.”

“Would a song help?” Sara asked thoughtfully. Seeing the confused look on her sister’s face, she continued. “I’ve started writing a bit of an apology song. Do you think it would be a good idea to sing it? Maybe in the last round of the competition, if we get that far?”

“That might work. You have the song with you now?”

Sara nodded, pulling it out. She handed it over to Laurel, who read it over and held out her hand for a pen. Once she got the pen, she started making notes on the half-finished lyrics that Sara had written.

“This is a good start. Let’s finish the lyrics today and get some music to it, okay? We’re going to have to get the rest of the band on board, and then figure out how to pull this off in the middle of the performance.”

Sara attacked her sister in a hug, tears glistening in her eyes. She had never been so thankful for her sister’s need to push aside her emotions and solve everyone’s problems.

“Thank you.”

//

Sara gathered the band minus Nyssa at Alex’s the following day to try and get them on board with her plan. She knew she needed to apologize and admit that she had messed up and she needed their support to play her song for Nyssa at the final round of competition.

Alex paced around her living room, livid.

“You never fucking  _ told  _ Nyssa? You’re such a dumbass, I swear to god, Sara! And now you want us to fucking help you apologize?”

Sara deflated. “Yes, I fucked up bad, I know that, and this is the most dramatic and sincere way I could do it. Also, she won’t talk to me outside of band stuff anyways, so it’s sort of the only way to do it.”

“I say go for it,” Sam spoke up. Alex looked at her incredulously and she shrugged. “What? I’m not mad, it was before me. Yeah, Sara was a dumbass, but that only makes it more important to apologize. This could work.”

Lena nodded from where she was curled up around Kara on the couch. “We might as well, right? From a professional standpoint, it’s a good song and our fans will love it.”

Alex turned to Helena, who shrugged, “I mean, this is partially my fault. Well- not the situation, but how badly it went down. I sort of owe it to them to help.”

“Fine,” the red-headed huffed. “I will help, but if you do anything like this ever again-”

“I’m not planning on it, Nys deserves better. Just- thank you. I’m sorry for dragging you into this, but I’m trying to fix it.”

Alex nodded, pulling Sara into a hug. “You’ll figure it out someday.”

//

**Siri how do i get a girlfriend** @harley_quinns_bitch

sooooooooo are the bop gonna stay together after @StarCityMusicCompetition or no?

//

The Birds of Prey gathered at the venue where the final round of the competition was taking place. They were up against Evermoist and were very determined to beat them. They all felt the pressure of the past two months, compounded by the tensions between Nyssa and Sara. Their normal banter was conspicuously absent as they waited for the other band to come off stage.

Kate led her group off stage, sneering in the direction of the birds, but Helena glared back darkly while Lena and Alex cooly ignored her as they went onstage to set up their gear. In what seemed like no time at all, they were starting their first song, and the energy of the audience’s cheers  quickly beginning to infect the band, getting them hyped up to their usual performance levels. All too soon, though, Sara found them wrapping up the set. And before the last chords faded from the air, Nyssa turned to walk off stage. Sara grabbed a mic, calling after her.

“Hey guys, so I have something I need to say. I know it’s not what you all came to see, but there is one person here tonight who needs to hear this. So, here goes.” She strummed her guitar softly while Alex and Helena started a smooth melody to accompany her, Lena slowly joining in. 

“Nyssa. I’m sorry. I fucked up and worse- I didn’t want to admit it. I hid all of it from you and I broke your trust and for that, babe, I’m so sorry.” Nyssa’s eyes went wide and she froze, staring at her girlfriend, competition and crowd forgotten as Sara stared right back.

“Habibti, you deserve so much better and I swear I will do everything I can to be that for you every. Single. Day.”

She then started singing and throughout the entire song, Sara kept careful eye contact with Nyssa, sparing only a brief moment to be glad that Laurel had insisted on a more portable ear mic for the performance as she walked towards the still-frozen singer. 

Behind her, the band’s backup accompaniment faded and she stepped into Nyssa’s space, still not breaking eye contact, even as she finished the song.

Nyssa said nothing throughout the entire performance, but just as the heavy silence began to stretch too long, the taller woman turned and walked off the stage without a word.

With a heavy dread settling in her gut, Sara turned back to her bandmates with a desperate look. This was her only good idea, and the thought of a life without Nyssa was too terrible to contemplate.

Scowling, Alex shooed Sara off the stage, mouthing exaggeratedly at the distressed woman with exasperation. 

‘ _ Go after her. _ ’

Sara turned and raced off stage, calling out to Nyssa and stopping her in her tracks. She was unsure of what she would say, having hoped that the song would be enough. She looked down and took a breath, before looking into the other woman’s black eyes and pouring out her heart.

“Nys, I’m sorry. I swear I thought we were broken up. I know it’s not an excuse, but I was convinced we were over permanently, that you would never take me back. I was upset, and desolate, and drunk, and I made so many mistakes. I slept with people who weren’t you and I abandoned your heart, and I never told you. I fucked up, darling, but please, I don’t want to live without you. You are too important to me for me to lose, especially now. I love you, more than anything. Please forgive me, please take me back.” 

Sara was in tears by the time she finished, and so was Nyssa. Nyssa gave a small nod and Sara collapsed into the woman’s arms. They wrapped themselves up in the other woman, grasping at each other, both whispering apologies in the other’s ear. Sara knew there would be a lot of talking, and quite possibly some therapy, in their future, but it felt good to know that the relationship wasn’t over.

//

**Nyssa Ghost Writes My Thoughts** @sarasangels

DID ANYONE ELSE CRY WHEN THEY HEARD SARA SINGING??!? I CANNOT BELIEVE WE WERE BLESSED LIKE THIS! 😍😭😍 #bop #saralance #nyssaraforever #mypoorgayheart #herVOICE

//

After the performance, they had a half hour to break down the stage and regroup before the winner would be announced. Sara and Nyssa separated and worked with the group to get everything done, but the bitter tension between was gone and Sara knew that their relationship was finally on the mend. It had been a long 3 weeks fighting, and she knew she never wanted to do it again.

“OK, ladies and gentlemen!” the host announced from the stage. “It’s time for those results, so let’s give it up for our lovely performers - Evermoist and the Birds of Prey!” The crowd screamed as everyone filed onstage once more.

“Everyone performed beautifully tonight and it was a close call, but the award tonight goes to the band that poured out their heart and soul on stage for all of us to enjoy! Give it up for…” the host paused dramatically as she slowly pulled out the card with the winner printed on it, “the Birds of Prey!”

The crowd went wild as the birds rejoiced on stage, Helena flipping off Kate with both hands. Lena laughed at the younger girl’s antics before turning away to find Kara’s bright smile in the crowd. Laurel groaned just off stage, knowing that photos of Helena would be all over the internet within the hour, but she smiled as she watched her sister share a cheerful glance grin with Nyssa. As the cheers began to die, Sara’s grin turned wolfish and she swept in for a deep kiss with Nyssa, reigniting the crowd’s enthusiasm while the two smiled into the kiss, feeling like their lives were in balance once more.


End file.
